Social navigation

Trust your love

Jessica and Adam did not believe in marriage. Adam felt glad he found someone like him who wanted to live with your love and not talk about marriage. Jessica liked it because she always had a fear of commitment unlike other girls and she knew that she would not have to repent if she had to move out all of a sudden. That fear continued to haunt Adam everyday, though. Whenever Jessica traveled alone to another city, Adam had fears in his mind if she would return home. He made sure not to pick a fight with her before her trips.

“How can you call this true love?” asked his friend Kyle.

“Why do you think so? Because it is true love, I get worried about her and cannot think of my life without her,” replied Adam.

“I know you are blindly and madly in love with her. But, why can’t she assure you that she is going to stay with you? Why is this sword hanging always over your head? You never have a good time when she is out of town. You are sick because you panic at the thought of her not returning. Don’t you think you people need to address this?” asked Kyle.

Adam smiled and said, “Let me tell you her story. You listen to it, first. And, then, tell me if you think she is right.”

Adam told him the story of Jessica’s life.

Jessica lost her father at the age of three. Her mother married another man who turn out to be a sadist. He used to physically abuse both her mother and Jessica. When she was eight, her mother asked her to run away to some safe place. Unfortunately, for her, she did not know where to go. She wandered in the streets for a week or so and was rescued by a child help organization. But, life did not turn out to be any better for her. There was a warden at the hostel who tried to sexually abuse her. She had to run away in the midnight to escape from his torture. Finally, she found an aunt of her who took care of her for three years. Later, this aunt got married. Her husband was not a bad man. But, he never liked Jessica and did not treat her with affection. Sometimes, he would act as if she never existed in the house. Whenever she tried to befriend him, he would scold her and ask her to stay away from him. A few months after her aunt’s wedding, Jessica came to know that her step father died. So, she had to return to her mother. A few weeks later, Jessica came to know that her uncle has killed her aunt. He was always waiting for Jessica to be out of the picture, so he could kill his wife. As she grew up, she met more men who would only try to take advantage of her, rather than help her out. Jessica’s mother struggled hard, initially, to make ends meet. Slowly and steadily, they became comfortable financially, thanks to their flourishing salon business. But, then, suddenly out of the blue, her deceased step-dad’s brother came from nowhere and asked for a share in the business. It was their family business earlier. It was not doing well. So, Jason, left his brother and decided to try other business ventures. All his attempts failed. He came to know that his brother died, but the business is now operating under profits. So, he approached the courts for a share in the profits.

As it was a family-owned business and catered to loyal clients, the courts ruled in favor of Jason. So, without doing any work, Jason would get half of the profits every month while Jessica and her mother continued to slog to expand the business and make it better.

After meeting so many men in her life who turned out to be crooks in one way or the other, she lost hope in all the men in general. Jessica had many relationships before she met Adam. But, none of them lasted for more than a month because of her commitment and trust issues. She had a tough time trusting men.

Kyle listened to her story and became silent. He decided not to comment about her at all, again.

Kyle asked Adam, “You both have been in a relationship for more than two years. Why don’t you get married?”

Adam replied, “After I saw my parents, I never think I can get married. It seems to be a fake game for me.”

Adam’s childhood was strewn with warring parents. His parents never liked each other. But, they chose to stay together for the sake of Adam. They got divorced after Adam reached the age of 21. Until, they spent most of the time fighting with each other. This had a significant influence on Adam. He did not like the idea of getting married and fighting with each other every day. Most of the fights left many scars in the little mind of Adam.

Kyle knew Adam since childhood. So, he understood his plight. He tried, earlier, to reason Adam saying that not all marriages are as disastrous as that of his parents. But, Adam was not willing to listen to anything.

And, the best part about Adam’s relationship with Jessica was that she never wanted to marry, too. She thought that men marry to torture their wives.

There were many times she would wake up in the middle of the nights shouting for help…to save her from her step-dad. No amount of counseling or psychotherapy helped her as the fears were deeply rooted. However, love cured her fears to some extent. After a year into their relationship, Jessica started feeling comfortable and safe with Adam.

Jessica returned from her trip. She called up Adam and asked him to come home early that evening. She said she wanted to speak something important with him. This message stirred a lot of questions and fears in Adam’s head. He could not concentrate on work the whole day.

Adam reached early.

Jessica said, “We need to get married.”

Adam was silent and dumbfound. He knew that this was a difficult situation for him. If he said no, he would lose her. Yet, his mind never allowed the concept of marriage. He was not sure if he could live happily with her after they got married.

Jessica continued, “I had a word with my advocate in New York. He told me that there is a way in which we can get rid of my uncle, Jason. We need to break the company into two. And, you can head this company. We can leave a few branches to Jason and have the rest with us. But, I cannot break it on my own. It is only after our marriage that I can do it with you. So, please listen to me. Let us get married. This marriage is only to save the business and get rid of Jason. He has been spending all the money we earned hard all these years an d we are not able to stop him. So, this is the only way out. In fact, my lawyer said that we can get into an agreement with him. If he needed money, we could keep all the branch offices with us and give him some money. But, we can do all this only if we want to separate entity.”

To assure him, she said, “Let us keep things the way they are. We can enter into a pre-nuptial agreement to keep things the way are.”

After thinking about this for a few hours, Adam agreed to get married. Adam liked the idea of a pre-nuptial agreement.

After a few weeks, they got married.

Six months after their marriage, they come to know that Jason, her step-dad’s brother died of cancer. He left his property and inheritance in the name of Jessica. He also wrote a letter to Jessica.

Sorry, Jessica, for all the trouble my brother and I created in your life. I knew I had cancer an year ago. It was only then I understood so many things in life. I realized that I needed to do something good in your life before my death. So, I talked to your lawyer and made sure you get married to Adam. I’m glad it worked out well for both of you. I hope you accept my apologies and let go of your grudge against men in general. Not everyone is like your step-dad and me. There are good men like Adam, too, in this world.